NEWS LITE : BILL GATES HASA LITTLE DIVIDEND.

Bill Gates has a new product: Baby 96.

Melinda French Gates, the wife of Microsoft's chairman, gave birth Friday to an 8-pound, 6-ounce girl at a hospital in Bellevue, Wash. Mother and the baby, named Jennifer Katharine, were reported doing well.

``They're home,'' Microsoft spokesman Dean Katz said Monday. ``Everybody's fine.''

It's the first child for the Gateses, who were married on New Year's Day 1994 on the Hawaiian island of Lanai.

Gates, 40, is one of the world's richest men, worth an estimated $14.8 billion. His 31-year-old wife has worked at the software company since 1987.

Petty scores with soundtrack

Tom Petty has turned his musical ear to the movies, writing the score for an upcoming romantic comedy.

The rocker's music will be featured in this summer's ``She's the One.'' The movie is directed by and stars Edward Burns, who made his directorial debut last year with ``The Brothers McMullen.''

In addition to the score, Petty has written six songs that will be used in the movie. A Warner Bros. soundtrack album will be released early this summer, said Lindsay Law, president of Fox Searchlight Pictures.

A noteworthy crash for Julio

Julio Iglesias was almost a soccer player.

At age 19, he had a contract with the Real Madrid soccer team and dreamed of becoming a professional goalie. Then a car accident nearly ended his life - and gave birth to his musical career.

``Without the accident I wouldn't be able to reach people the way I do today,'' the 52-year-old singer said in a telephone interview from his office in Bal Harbour, Fla.

After the crash, Iglesias awoke from a weeklong coma to find himself paralyzed. A doctor's assistant gave him a guitar to coax fingers that refused to move, and the rest is history.

``I did something to survive. I started playing music,'' he said. ``Without that guitar, I would not be here.''

Iglesias, who returns to Las Vegas this week to play Caesars Palace, has sold more than 200 million albums.

50th should be royal

Admirers of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are already making big plans to honor the one royal marriage that has lasted.

The 70-year-old queen and 74-year-old prince will celebrate their 50th anniversary Nov. 20, 1997.

They will be honored in July 1997 at The Royal Pageant of The Horse. The privately financed spectacle at Ascot Racecourse near Windsor Castle will feature 1,000 horses and the ornate, royal Gold State Coach. No exact date has been set.

Three of Elizabeth and Phillip's four children - Anne, Charles and Andrew - are either divorced or about to be divorced. Edward is unmarried.

Jitters off, June wedding on

After a few counseling sessions, Heather Whitestone's wedding is back on.

Earlier this month the 1994 Miss America said she had decided to postpone her June wedding to John McCallum, a former aide to House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Now they've reconsidered and set a date: June 8.

She and McCallum, a financial planner in Atlanta, recently had counseling sessions which they considered a marriage prerequisite.

``We've had counseling three or four times, and we got so much better,'' Whitestone said. ``We improved our communication and fell in love more.''

Whitestone, who is deaf, made her professional ballet debut over the weekend with the Alabama Ballet. She received a lengthy standing ovation after performing in ``Ballet Olympia,'' a tribute to the 1996 Olympics.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) `Pallbearer' pals

Actor David Schwimmer grasps the hand of co-star Gwyneth Paltrow as they attend Monday's premier of their new movie, ``The Pallbearer,'' at the Tribeca Film Center in New York City.

Associated Press

(2) Julio Iglesias: Therapeutic guitar